New Delhi. The Supreme Court has said that the appellate court cannot overturn the order of acquittal of the accused merely on the ground that another view is possible in the case. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said that unless the appellate court comes to the conclusion that the acquittal decision is against the evidence, there cannot be any interference in the decision. Let us tell you that this case is related to a father and son, who were prosecuted for the murder of a person named Punjabbhai in Gujarat. This incident happened on 17 September 1996.
The Supreme Court bench said, ‘The appellate court cannot overturn the acquittal order merely on the ground that another view is possible. In other words the verdict of acquittal must be found against the evidence. Unless the appellate court reaches such a conclusion, the order of acquittal cannot be interfered with. The apex court said this while deciding on an appeal in a murder case. The lower court’s order of acquittal in the case was overturned by the High Court.
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Evidence has to be taken into consideration – Supreme Court
Justice Oka, who wrote the judgment on behalf of the Supreme Court, said it is a settled law that an appellate court has to take into account the evidence when deciding an appeal against an acquittal. The top court said, ‘The High Court ignored the established principle that an order of acquittal further strengthens the presumption of innocence of the accused. After considering the decision, we found that the High Court did not consider the main point. The bench said that in the absence of statutory provisions, in this case the onus was on the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt.
‘Contrary to the law of the country’
The top court said in its order that the High Court’s conclusion was completely flawed and contrary to the law of the country. The top court said that the High Court had no reason to overturn the acquittal order. The top court said, ‘We set aside the judgment and order of the High Court dated December 14, 2018 and quash the conviction of the appellants. The judgment and order of the lower court dated July 5, 1997 are restored.
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Tags: National News, Supreme Court
FIRST PUBLISHED: April 13, 2024, 09:22 IST